The article quotes Blakely as observing that if someone they were looking for had a device on, they could find them in 30 minutes.

The $300 cost of the devices is small when put up against the cost to Medicare for treating hospitalization and therapy costs for those found after a period of time. According to the story, it typically takes nine hours to find a lost person. The devices cut that down to 15 to 30 minutes, a dramatic drop in the police and emergency services needed.

It is those nine hours that struck me. Nine hours is too long in any case but in a state such as ours it could be fatal. This is an initiative that should be expanded upon in all states.